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Bonobos - our unknown cousins

Kokolopori, Democratic Republic of Congo
The dominant female of a wild bonobo group holds her gaze. Bonobos are generally held to be matriarchal, with males deriving their status from their mother’s position in the group.

The dominant female of a wild bonobo group holds her gaze. Bonobos are generally held to be matriarchal, with males deriving their status from their mother’s position in the group.

Bonobos, along with chimpanzees, are our closest living relatives. They are also among the least-studied of primates. Unlike chimpanzees, who are territorial and combative, bonobos are relatively peaceful creatures, and appear to use sex as a means of social communication. Sex, for bonobos, is not restricted to male-female copulation during the female’s fertile period, but includes various gender combinations, and occurs in a variety of situations, including greeting, relieving tension, and as an expression of reconciliation.

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Christian Ziegler is a photojournalist specialising in natural history and science-related topics. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine, for whom he has completed 11 feature stories, and has been widely published in other magazines like GEO, Smithsonian and BBC, among others. Christian’s aim is to highlight species and ecosystems under threat and share their beauty, and importance with a broad audience.